Lenni Reviews: "Runner" by Parker Williams and Patrick Zeller (Narrator)

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*This audio-book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18.

Matt Bowers has made every effort to isolate himself from the world after he was assaulted as a teenager. He lives on a large piece of land, has everything he needs delivered, and lives off of a sizable settlement account. All that changes when a man comes jogging across his property. Since the stranger isn't doing anything illegal, Matt cannot get his officer brother to do anything about the man encroaching on his safe space. Faced with no other option than to accept him, Matt gradually learns to tolerate the man's presence and even get to know him.

This is a sweet story about a traumatized guy learning to love again. It is a quintessential hurt/comfort story with realistic leads who follow a very natural progression as their relationship grows. Matt and Charlie do become an overtly saccharine couple, though Charlie seems almost too perfect in dealing with Matt's OCD and agoraphobia. Charlie is positively saint like in his acceptance of it and that made him seem less believable in his own right. I mean, he barely blinks at some of the limitations he suddenly has to deal with where as I believe any normal person would at least express some sort of resistance to their life taking a complete 180 in terms of their freedom to do as they please.

I did enjoy listening to this book. Zeller is a great narrator who has a great range to make each character distinct to your ears. While the story kept me entertained overall, I did struggle to remember a lot of things when I sat down to write this review. Cute and romantic but not much staying power. 3.5 out of 5.

Book Expo and Book Con 2018 Recap

Book Expo and Book Con were over this weekend (starting on May 30th) and as you can see from the pictures, I got a LOT of galleys to reviews. Thursday and Friday were the most productive days since those were the days where most of the main floor was open.

While much better organized than last year, there were still some hiccups. But take a look at all these books and look forward to seeing reviews for these soon!

Press Release: "The Thousand Year Beach"

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VIZ MEDIA’S HAIKASORU SCIENCE FICTION IMPRINT RELEASES TOBI HIROTAKA’S THE THOUSAND YEAR BEACH

An Idyllic World Inhabited By A.I. Beings Faces Extinction From Malevolent Invaders

San Francisco, CA, May 22, 2018 – VIZ Media’s Haikasoru science fiction imprint delivers a new literary release with the publication of THE THOUSAND YEAR BEACH on June 19th.

THE THOUSAND YEAR BEACH, by TOBI Hirotaka, will be released in print with an MSRP of $16.99 U.S. / $22.99 CAN. An eBook edition will also debut on June 19th for the Amazon Kindle, and in Apple’s iBooks Store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Book Store, the Kobo eBooks Store, and the Google Play Store.

Designed to imitate a harbor town in southern Europe, the Realm of Summer is just one of the zones within the virtual resort known as the Costa del Número. It has been more than a thousand years since human guests stopped coming to the Realm, leaving the AIs alone in their endless summer. But now all that has come to a sudden end, as an army of mysterious Spiders begin reducing the town to nothing. As night falls, the few remaining AIs prepare for their final, hopeless battle… War between the virtual and the real begins in book one of the Angel of the Ruins series.

“THE THOUSAND YEAR beach presents an idyllic virtual world, still running long after having been abandoned by humans, that suddenly finds itself invaded by an impossible force,” says Nick Mamatas, Editor. “Renowned among SF fans and critics, we invite readers to discover TOBI Hirotaka’s first full-length novel this summer.”

Author TOBI Hirotaka was born in 1960 and won the Sanseido SF Story Contest while still a student at Shimane University. From 1983 to 1992 he actively contributed short stories to Japan’sSF Magazine. After a hiatus of ten years, he returned in 2002 with his first full-length novel, THE THOUSAND YEAR BEACH, which took Second Prize in SF Magazine's Best SF of 2002. In 2004, Kaleidoscape, his collection of revised and new works, took top honors in that year's Best SF awards in the magazine, as well as the 2005 Japan SF Award. One of the stories from the collection, “Shapesphere,” also won the 2005 Seiun Award for Best Japanese Short Story of the Year. In 2010, “Autogenic Dreaming: Interview with the Columns of Clouds” earned TOBI his second Seiun Award for Best Japanese Short Story. The work also appeared in English in The Future Is Japanese anthology (published by VIZ Media). He won his third Seiun Award for “Sea Fingers” in 2015, which appeared in English in Saiensu Fikushon 2016.

For more information on THE THOUSAND YEAR BEACH and the Haikasoru imprint, please visit Haikasoru.com.

For more information on other titles available from VIZ Media, please visit viz.com.

About VIZ Media, LLC

Established in 1986, VIZ Media is the premier company in the fields of publishing, animation distribution, and global entertainment licensing. Along with its popular digital magazine WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, DRAGON BALL, SAILOR MOON, and POKÉMON, VIZ Media offers an extensive library of titles and original content in a wide variety of book and video formats, as well as through official licensed merchandise. Owned by three of Japan's largest publishing and entertainment companies, Shogakukan Inc., Shueisha Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media is dedicated to bringing the best titles for English-speaking audiences worldwide.

Learn more about VIZ Media and its properties at viz.com.

Lenni Reviews: “Broken Mirror” by Cody Sisco

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

After the death of his grandfather, Victor is convinced he was murdered. But nobody believes him due to his diagnosis of mirror resonance syndrome, which causes blackouts, nightmares, hallucinations, and a lack of control over strong emotions. Determined to discover the truth, Victor no longer knows who to trust as not only his condition worsens but a dangerous conspiracy involving a possible cure and a plot to lock up any broken mirror whether they're a threat or not.

This is a great cyberpunk thriller. Set in a dystopian, 1990's, you get this futuristic feel and the stakes make it tense but there are moments that drag as the next twist is set up. I really felt for Victor and I think you'll find yourself rooting for him the entire book, as I did. The world around him is built perfectly within the narrative making the entire story engrossing and engaging. An awesome novel worth checking out. 4 out of 5.